The Silent Shadow
by argentangel29
Summary: Indulgent little fanfic I wrote in which my OC replaces Eponine. Reviews welcome. I hope you enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

She knew that staying away would be much healthier for her. She knew that she was much better off if she did not go anywhere near the ABC Café ever again. And yet, she could not stay away. **He** was there. He was mesmerizing to her. Adelaide stopped at the door, her hand poised on the knob; she should leave, she should turn around and go home right now. She knew that this was a fruitless effort. She had just lifted her hand from the doorknob when she heard him. She froze. Yes, she heard him; she could hear his raised voice above the others. Cursing herself internally, she opened the door and entered the building. She paused at the staircase for a moment, then quickly mounted it. Once at the top, Adelaide looked around and saw him.

Enjolras stood in the center of the room, he had since lowered his voice. He was leaned over the table, his dark blond hair curled messily in all directions. Ordinarily this would have looked filthy, but on him it only helped to accentuate the rest of his handsome features. He had blue eyes which seemed to be able to change from soft and gentle, to dark and dangerous in an instant. He stood taller than most of the other men in the room, well over six feet. He looked over at her for a moment than back to his discussion. Instantly that strange tugging started up in Adelaide's stomach, that feeling that always gave her the urge to run. Honestly it aggravated her, to know that someone could have that much control over how she felt, but she also knew she didn't want to fight it. She took a seat next to Grantaire. Grantaire was the resident drunk. He spent most of the ABC meetings with a bottle of wine in his hand, and this meeting was to be no different. He seemed to serve no real purpose except to be a source of comic relief. His entire reason for being there was to see Enjolras speak. Grantaire might not have thought much of any attempt at Revolution but he seemed to believe in Enjolras. Adelaide tried to ignore his rambling and focus on what Enjolras was saying. At least, that was what she was trying to do.

Enjolras and the rest of the men at the ABC Café meetings had been discussing the same thing for months. Revolution. They wanted nothing more than to free the poor people of France from the oppression of the rulers who wanted to keep a fast hold on their power and wealth. Now their plans had changed from "if" to "when" as the poor people of the land had become more and more restless it was clear to them that their revolution should come soon.

To her credit, Adelaide paid attention for a considerable amount of time before letting her mind wander. She began to think of when she had first met Enjolras years ago. She was just a child then and so was he. Enjolras' family was quite wealthy and had hired her and her mother and sister as maids. Back then, they had been close. He had been her only playmate after her sister Helene died, and her biggest comfort after her mother's death. He had taught her to read and write, something a poor girl ordinarily would never have been able to do. Then he had gone away to some special school whose name she couldn't remember. When he returned, he was different. He had grown, he was no longer a boy, but a man and it didn't take Adelaide long to notice. But his appearance wasn't the only thing that was different, he stop treating her like a little sister and more like a grown woman. It wasn't long before Adelaide began feeling herself falling in love with him, and for a time it seemed that he was beginning to feel the same. And then everything changed. He began to become interested in the poor of the streets and began speaking of revolution. He left his family's home and moved into a small apartment in one of the poorer districts of Paris. To Adelaide he seemed to become more and more distant. He never seemed to have time for her anymore, instead he was always with his friends at the ABC Café planning ways to overthrow the state. Even though he had changed so much Adelaide still loved him. After Enjolras' departure from the family home, his parents fired Adelaide because to them it seemed that she had been the reason for their son's sudden exit; Adelaide sincerely wished that were true. And now here they both were, at a small Café in a poor section of Paris.

Adelaide was snapped suddenly out of her reverie by Enjolras yelling in her direction. Then she realized it wasn't her that his anger was aimed at. It was Grantaire who had recently been singing a rather bawdy song. Grantaire merely grinned at Enjolras and took another swing at his bottle of wine. After that incident the meeting itself seemed to now consist of everyone splitting up into groups and discussing whatever they wished. As Adelaide stood up to leave she nearly ran into Marius. Marius had been a close friend of Enjolras when they were younger and they remained close now. He had always been kind to Adelaide and had long been one of her closest friends. What he said to her next was definitely not what she expected.


	2. Chapter 2

"We are having a rally tomorrow, outside of General Lamarque's house. You should come."

Adelaide looked at Marius and wondered if he was joking. He wasn't. In fact, he seemed rather excited about the prospect of her coming.

"Oh, and why are you so anxious I come?" she asked, teasing him a little since she could see that he was all worked up about something.

"Because, Enjolras is going to let me speak with him this time!" Marius beamed with pride.

"Really?" Adelaide said, "Then I will have to come."

Marius thanked her then excused himself to go talk to one of his other friends. Adelaide was happy for him, but couldn't help feeling a little jealous. She knew, of course, that there was no way she could speak in front of all those people. She was much to shy for that. Adelaide felt jealous of this new special attention Marius got from Enjolras, and though she that she was being foolish about it she still felt slighted. All too often she felt like a shadow; always present but never noticed, a human shape without a face or voice that no one ever paid any mind to. At least, the one person that really mattered to Adelaide was the one who never paid any mind to her.

Adelaide looked over at Enjolras, she wanted to speak to him. She felt fear crawling up her spine, and stopped short. _Should I talk to him? Should I dare? _These thoughts and more race through her mind. So engrossed was she in her fretting that she didn't even notice Grantaire's presence until she walked into him. She muttered out an apology, to which he responded by grabbing her arm and pulling her of to the side out of everyone else's way.

"And what do you think of this little revolution here?" Adelaide could smell the alcohol on his breath, and attempted to back away. He tightened his grip and continued.

"Now seriously, what do you think of all this?" Adelaide straightened herself and responded.

"I believe that the revolution will succeed, and that we will all have better lives soon."

Grantaire let go of her arm, leaned back against a wall, and ran his hand through his curly dark hair; he sighed and said,

"And why do you come to these meetings so often? You and I both know that they are often very repetitive." He cocked his head to the side and grinned at her. Adelaide cursed herself for letting this man make her feel so flustered. She though over her answer and said very carefully,

"I like to hear talk of there being hope, hope for a better life. It makes me feel a bit better about going out to face the cruelness of the world."

One look at Grantaire's face and she knew he didn't buy it.

"Adelaide, do you think I'm fooled? Do you think anyone here is fooled? Even Gavroche can see why you are here!" Adelaide, suddenly self-conscious glanced around the room at all the faces that apparently knew what she had thought was a secret. Grantaire continued,

"Well, everyone except Enjolras. He seems to be totally clueless to you and your 'reasons' for being here." Adelaide felt trapped and was overcome by a sudden compulsion to run and hide. She wanted to disappear, and the fact that she couldn't made her feel even more trapped. Grantaire was about to keep speaking, but Adelaide, suddenly angry, stopped him.

"I don't know what you mean by speaking to me of this, but..."

"Adelaide, listen to me." Grantaire lowered his voice and said, "I am not trying to hurt you. I'm just trying to help you. I can see your pain every time you step into this building. It shows in your eyes. When you first come here you look hopeful, when you leave you look as if you are about to cry."

"And how is this supposed to help me?"

"Because, I do not want you to waste away your youth wishing for something that you will never have. As strange as it sounds, he sees nothing but France, and has no time for anything else. I know that this isn't something you want to hear, but that's how it is, and I can't bear seeing you being hurt by something that you can do nothing about."

In all honesty, Adelaide was struck by the sudden sincerity and caring Grantaire had just displayed; whether or not it was caused by the amount of alcohol in his body or not she was grateful. She looked up at Grantaire and spoke.

"I know. I know that I am clinging to a fool's hope, but there is nothing I can do to fight it. I wish I didn't feel the way I do, but I am powerless against it. Thank you for your concern."

With that she turned to leave. Reaching the bottom of the stairs she saw Gavroche sitting on floor near the doorway. She had often brought the child home with her since he had no real place to live.

"Want to come with me?"

Gavroche grinned up at her, and began to follow her home.


End file.
